Memories
by Muffinizer
Summary: DISCONTINUED. Left FanFiction . net. Thank you for reading!
1. Cameras

_Memories_

_Chapitre One_

_Cameras_

**Some random story I wanted to make. A TRC one (again) and will include almost every character… **

**Note: Yeah, almost every character mentioned in TRC will come out. Almost every character. Note the word _almost_.**

**Another Note: This is based on the song '****다시 시작해도 될까요' ****by ****성시경****. Technically it means "Can We Start Again?" Yeah, the music video is like it… So… Hn…**

**Full Summary: The photographer Fai D. Flowright loves to take pictures of nature everywhere around him. Another tourist has the same hobby, taking pictures of historical sites. Unfortunately, on their recent trip, they have switched cameras with each others photos. Will they be able to give the cameras back? And what will happen then?**

**Disclaimer: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE isn't mine. It's CLAMP's. So… any character mentioned here… – Points – Yeah, it's theirs. Um, the first two lines are from ****성시경'****s album. Yup. Not mine either.**

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_**다시 꿈꾸고 싶다**___

_**다시 사랑하고 싶다**___

You can say I'm a typical photographer. Y'know, I take photos during my vacations, put them on post cards and such, send them to my family… Well, maybe not that last part.

Name's Fai. Fai D. Flowright. I came from… God knows where. I've been traveling so much that I don't know.

My specialty? Nature. But nowadays I've gotten into ruins, statues… Yeah.

I'm not a special person really. I just go around, taking pictures of trees and flowers, occasionally couples who walk by, asking me to take their pictures.

'Gladly!' I would reply. But really now, you're just killing off my film.

So I travel around the world, looking at the changing leaves, the snow that falls and blankets the ground with fluffy whiteness, the dew that remains on the grass for hours straight in the spring mornings.

You can say I'm a typical photographer. Yep, nothing special about my life.

You know, I wonder what would happen if I lost my camera. Devastated, yes. But… what more?

My whole _life_ is on that film. My whole life. My whole timeline. My memories.

To you, it's just a mere camera. Yeah, you can buy a new one, who cares?

But this camera was with me for years. My whole _entire_ life.

If I lost it, I would be crushed emotionally, emotionally scarred.

I'd rather die than lose my camera.

I'd rather die than lose my memories.

_**I want to dream again.**_

_**I want to love again.**_

… Okay, so I admit I am a photographer. What? Got a problem with it? Sure, it's not normal seeing a person like _me_ to be into photography. Oh well. Deal with it.

My name? Why should I tell you? … Fine, I'm Kurogane. Yeah, just call me Kurogane. I usually take pictures of historical sites to put on my website but if I can't find anything good, I just take pictures of nature.

I'm from Japan. Where exactly, I wouldn't tell you. I just call my home country 'Nihon'.

You could say that I'm the anti-social type, not talking to other people excluding my family members or some friends I have. Do I take pictures of other people? Cheh. That's stupid.

I travel around the world to look at sites and ruins that were open to the public like certain tombs, pyramids, castles…

I'm a photographer. That's all I do. Take pictures.

But taking pictures has become a part of my life. It must've been because my mother was so into stuff like that.

If I lost my camera… If I lost my film… My world would crumble around me. And really, I'm not being sarcastic. If that were to really happen…

'If'. Stupid Ifs. They're just so confusing. But… If I did lose them…

… I would die.

Not just my physical self die, but my soul, my mind.

Yeah. I love photography that much.

I'd rather die than lose anything to a jerk who would steal my items.

I'd rather die.

**_They've always said that a picture is worth a thousand words… Does a photo count too?_**

The little red cable car swung back and forth in the fierce winter winds as it traveled all the way up to the peak of the mountain.

A blond man wearing a coat and earmuffs stared out the window, his occasional sighs staining the glass with fog. As the clouds cleared, he took out one of his cameras and held it before his eyes, grinning.

And within a second, a picture was taken of the majestic mountains of Asia.

…

Hot cocoa was served in the inn as people ran to and fro from their rooms to the outdoors. Many young couples came together to ski or snowboard. Either way, they were glad that they were together.

Blood red eyes were examining the outside scenery, the whole place covered in crystallized droplets of water. The eyes softened as they spotted a small winter rabbit, its coat covered with falling snow. The person got up and headed outside with a camera and snuck behind the rabbit, not wanting to alarm it. With the flash off, the camera was lowered until it had the whole body of the rabbit in its place.

With a snap, the picture was taken and the bunny fled for its life after hearing such a sound.

… … …

"Ah, what a bother! I only got to take a few pictures…" the blond man from the cables muttered, stretching his arms as he relaxed into the soft couches. He loved the inn for three reasons: it was close to the nearest mountains, it had awesome hot cocoa and the spa inside the place was absolutely amazing.

"Let's see…" The person turned on his camera and looked through his recent photos, deleting some of the ones that looked horrible.

"Excuse me," a girl whispered, walking up to the blond. "I was wondering... Do you take pictures for couples too?" He looked up and smiled.

"Sure, where do you want to take it?" The girl's emerald eyes widened in happiness and beamed.

"Thank you so much." She turned around and called for someone and started waving her hand in the air. Soon, a boy a bit taller than her with warm brown eyes walked up, smiling at her. She pointed to the blond with the camera and said, "He'll take a picture for us, Syaoran-kun." The boy next to her thanked him and stood next to her, holding her arm.

"I think this place would be fine." The man nodded and backed up a bit, taking a picture of the couple before him.

"What do you think?" he asked, showing them the camera. They both nodded their heads.

"Thank you… Do you think you can send these pictures to Room 248?" The photographer nodded.

"Can we have your name, sir?" the girl asked, holding her boyfriend's arm. The blond man smiled.

"Fai. Fai D. Flowright."

… … …

Crimson eyes scanned the spa before them, narrowing as they spotted two males trying to peek into the female's spa.

So the man reached down, took one of those stools and swung it at them, nailing them in the head. They fell forward, off their chairs, over the wall separating the spas, and landed before a girl who was trying to undress and get in.

"Oh, my _God_!" the man heard the female shriek. There were more slaps, stammering and then another shriek.

The red-eyed man chuckled at the commotion made on the other side of the room. He set his foot in the steaming water, sighing in content as the cold seemed to have evaporated into the steamy air.

"Are you okay?" he heard someone ask.

"No! There are perverts lurking everywhere; two of them landed right before my cousin!" The man ruffled his black hair, smiling mischievously under the water.

_Not my fault. Kinda._

"Well miss, I suppose you should step out before anyone else comes…" the same person said again, stepping away from the angry woman.

"Humph!"

Red eyes opened again underwater as they examined his big hands.

_Hn… I should get out before anything else happens…_

"Ai! That's hot," someone shouted as they stepped into the pool of water. The man rolled his eyes unconsciously.

_Sissy._

"Hey, do you mind if I borrow that towel of yours?" he heard someone ask him. The bored eyes looked up at the man smiling down at him.

Bubbles floated up to the surface as the man tried to speak.

"I take that as a yes." The towel was snatched away from him.

Red eyes glared at the towel being used by the stranger, the towel tied around his waist.

"…" The man got up, growling.

"Who said you could use my towel in the first place?" he barked, pulling off the white towel. The stranger looked up at him, seeing that he was much taller, and smiled.

… _What an obnoxious ass! Who does he think he is, smiling at people like that?_

"Eh, gomen ne."

_Stupid idiot. Using my towel. Stupid blue eyes. Staring at me. Stupid blond hair! What kinda Japanese person has blond hair anyway? Did he bleach it or something?_

The blond man sat down next to him, sighing in content.

"Wai, so warm…" he giggled, bringing his whole body underwater.

The man got out of the water, clearly frustrated.

_There goes my time of 'relaxation'._

He went into the changing room, slipped on his clothes and grabbed for his camera on the lockers, hanging it around his neck.

_Stupid blond idiot…_

… … …

Fai had frowned when he heard the man beside him leave the spa. Did he do something wrong?

"Eh…" He looked up from the water and cocked his head to the side as he saw the man reenter with a camera, shuffling around the room, looking for something.

_Oh hey, a camera._

The man gave up, shaking his head in frustration.

"Oh well," Fai heard him mutter as he walked out of the spa. He went under water again, blowing some bubbles until he grew bored.

_Nothing to do… Maybe I should watch some TV to kill time._

Fai walked out to the changing room, humming quietly as he dressed in thick sweaters. Reaching up for his camera, he felt something hard so he grabbed it, happily bringing it down. He hung it around his neck, still humming, as he threw off his slippers and put on boots.

"Hn…" He shook his head violently, the blond locks going everywhere. "There, much better." Fai pranced out of the room, smiling happily as his hand unconsciously reached up to grab his camera.

… … …

Kurogane, the man with red eyes and a massive body had been freaking out when he saw the name sketched on the camera he had taken.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit!_ He repeated over and over, frantically running around his room, pinching himself as if it was a dream.

"Oh dear Lord," he muttered, sitting on his bed in exhaustion. He gave up. He lost his camera. And this person was probably far away from where he was. Kurogane fell back onto the bed, letting out a groan.

"Damn it. God damn it…"

_I don't even know who this person is…_

… … …

"Ara?" Fai shrieked as he dropped the camera in his hands.

_This isn't mine!_

"Oh, my Gosh." Quickly he picked up the camera, placing it on the wooden bureau beside his bed. Fai perked up, a thought running through his mind. It might work. It just might work.

_I'll find the person who owns this camera and I'll give it back!_

_Great!_

… _But who the heck is Kurogane?_

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**Oh boy, that got confusing. I didn't wanna say their names in the very beginning because well, I don't like doing that.**

**Anyway, as usual, I suck at first chapitres… But it shall be better sooner or later! Trust me!**

**I hope you liked it. So… Yeah, I won't beg for reviews, but just a simple "Nice" or "Good job; maybe you should've – blank – in this chapitre" would be nice. Constructive criticism – not the kind that would make my work seem like shit… - would also be appreciated! Thank youz0rz.**

**Nyoz0rz.**

**-Muffinizer**


	2. Taking Pictures

_Memories_

_Chapitre Two_

_Taking Pictures_

**Oh my Gosh, my second chapter! – Le Gasp – Okay so, I was _clearly_ surprised when I got reviews… Wow. I'm still shocked. Really. So uh, yeah, here's the second chapitre. If you find any errors, tell me; I'll try to fix it if it really was an error but if it was your misunderstanding, I understand. (I was confused when I wrote the first chapitre. Never doing that whole 'no name' thing ever again. Ever,)**

**Disclaimer: Err well... – Points to Chapitre One – Read there pl0x. _Karma_, which is supposedly Kurogane's ring tone, is by Bump of Chicken. It's Tales of the Abyss' opening. Apparently, I am not BOC. _Sakura Kiss_, which is Fai's ring tone, is by Chieco Kawabe, Ouran Host Club's opening. I am also no Chieco Kawabe. I am the mighty Muffinizer! – Falls over – Sorry 'bout that.**

**Full Summary: The photographer Fai D. Flowright loves to take pictures of nature everywhere around him. Another tourist has the same hobby, taking pictures of historical sites. Unfortunately, on their recent trip, they have switched cameras with each others photos. Will they be able to give the cameras back? And what will happen then?**

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Fai D. Flowright had been panicking for hours straight last night, rushing back and forth to the rooms on his floor. None of them had lost a camera.

"Mah, I don't know what to do…" Fai sighed, collapsing onto a rocking chair in the main lobby.

He stared down at the camera, frowning. Whose was this, anyway?

"Let's see…"

_No, no Fai. It's rude to look at other people's pictures!_

… _Okay so, maybe just one peek…_

Fai pressed the power button and with a _'Plip!' _the camera was turned on. He looked through the photographs, smiling to himself.

_Aww, look; a bunny rabbit!_

… … …

Kurogane had stuck his head in his pillow, screaming in anger.

"My camera!" he yelled. "My camera! My fucking camera!" he cried in sorrow.

_What the hell am I supposed to do? I mean, I can't just go around asking people if they lost a camera. I could just go to the lost and found but…_

Kurogane glanced up from the pillow to look at the time.

_My flight is in about three hours…_

He groaned, rolling over on the bed, sighing as he dropped the camera besides him.

_I wonder… The camera had to belong to a man, right? Well not many men here are into photography…_

'_Garasudama hitotsu otosareta oikakete mou hitotsu okkochita…'_

He rolled his eyes to the side and frowned. Reaching out to the chest beside his bed he grabbed his cell phone and flipped it open.

"Kurogane, where are you?" a woman asked. Tapping could be heard from the other side of the line.

"Eh, Yuuko. It's not even close to eight-."

"But get here anyway! Watanuki-kun is probably going to explode, seeing that he has very important things to handle right now! So I give you twenty minutes Kurogane before I take away what makes you a man!"

Kurogane gulped – Yuuko was always the tough kind…

"Ussu, ussu I get it!" He snapped his cell phone shut with the flick of his wrist and jumped out of bed.

_Damn it. Stupid bitch. She's so annoying…_

Grabbing the suitcase he had prepared before, Kurogane dashed through the door.

… … …

Fai had stopped at the fourteenth photograph as he looked down at his wrist watch. The second hand was ticking by slowly with that annoying sound.

_Oh boy. It's already 7:32._

With a final glance to the whiteness outside, Fai jumped up and skipped out the room, closing the door quietly, aware that people around him would still be asleep.

He smiled brightly to himself; this trip had been successful and the scenery here was wonderful too.

"Damn stupid Yuuko…" he heard someone mutter under their breath. Fai held onto the camera and suitcase tightly as he ran through the hallway.

_I don't want to be late for my ride… Again._

An unexpected bump had caused him to stumble back on his behind.

"Ow!" Fai cried.

"Sorry." Fai looked up and beamed. The person looked down and grimaced.

"It's you," both of them said, one growling as the other continued smiling.

"Hey, sorry about that whole towel thing yesterday. I just needed one because-."

The man rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for your stories." He ran off with a jolt, literally jumping down the stairs. Fai blinked.

_Eh?_

'_Kisukeba itsudemo soba ni irukeredo Honto wa kirai suki mou sou na no?'_

He looked down at his phone and flipped it open as he got up from his fall.

"Hello?"

"_Yes, is this Fai D. Flowright?"_

"Uh, yes it is. Who are you?"

"_I'm Syaoran Li from yesterday; Sakura and I took our pictures but we never got it."_

Fai smacked his forehead.

"I'm sorry but it may sound ridiculous to you but… I lost my camera and I won't be able to send it to you. But I can take a picture with this… new camera right now if you have the time."

He heard some mumbling on the other line.

"_Okay, thank you."_

Quickly, Fai jumped down the stairs to the main lobby and spotted the young couple, holding each other close to keep the other warm.

"Ah, sorry. The camera just disappeared," Fai laughed as he walked up to them. The boy Syaoran smiled.

"It's all right. We have time. But the problem is, do you?" he asked worriedly. Fai nodded, smiling sheepishly.

"Hah, you don't have to worry about me! I'm always late for my rides but no worries; I have everything under control." Sakura nodded and stood beside her boyfriend again.

Fai backed up a bit, holding the camera up, making sure the two were in the scene and in a second, he took the picture with a flash. He took a bit more, just in case.

"I made some extras, just in case you forget any, 'kay?" Fai called out as he hung the camera strap from his neck. The couple nodded.

"But apparently this camera isn't like my old one so you'll have to wait until everything's ready. You don't mind if you wait, do you?" Fai asked. Syaoran shook his head and took out a pencil and a piece of paper, writing down their address.

"Once they're done with the processing and such, I'd like you to send them here." Fai grinned at the two and nodded once, gratefully taking the piece of paper.

He glanced up at the clock hung up in the main lobby and frowned. "If you excuse me, I must go now. Nice meeting you Syaoran, Sakura." He picked up his luggage and ran out the doors after checking himself out.

Sakura sighed as she leaned back on her boyfriend's chest, looking up at him. "He's nice, isn't he?" Syaoran smirked.

"Hn, I guess. But he's not as nice as me, is he?" he inquired, wrapping his arms around her stomach. Sakura snorted.

"Oh please, Syaoran, of course you're better." She playfully slapped him on the cheek before laughing at her boyfriend's clearly fake shocked face.

… … …

Kurogane let out a cry as he reached the airport, stumbling off the bus and rushing in. As if he were blind, he ran full speed ahead, not aware of the slender and quite angry woman before him.

"Ow!" Kurogane muttered as he bumped into someone, casting a quick glance upwards. His face paled. "Oh shit. Yuuko?"

Said woman smacked Kurogane on the back before glowering at him. "Watch where you're going young man," she hissed in his ear, ruby red eyes glistening in anger. For once – maybe twice, if not thrice – Kurogane felt scared under the glare of Yuuko-san.

"Well now hurry up. Go get something to eat, go to the restroom and meet us near the gate okay?" The man nodded once and sprinted off to the nearest bookstore.

Yuuko smiled to herself as she watched Kurogane run off into where the novels were sold.

_He's a mature man, Kurogane is. I guess he's not only obsessed with photography._

---

As Kurogane flipped through the mystery and sci-fi novels he loved to read, he spotted a picture book. It had a white bunny on the cover, similar to the one he had taken earlier the day before.

"Ah…" Unconsciously he reached down and grabbed the book, smiling. He turned to the first page and practically jumped up in happiness as he saw the picture of a tree frog sticking onto a branch, holding onto it for its dear life.

Kurogane had a thing for reptiles, but he didn't know why.

---

After Fai had gotten their address, he dashed out of the hotel and was struck with a rather heavy and chilling wind, causing him to stumble back.

_Darn_, he thought to himself, pulling on his pale blue hood. _At this rate I won't be able to get in time…_

Taking the bus that led back to the airport, Fai had put in his earplugs and turned on music while looking through the camera.

---

"I'm gonna miss the flight again!" Fai yelled as he dusted the snow off of his coat and ran into the airport, dodging and jumping over the luggage that was scattered all over the tiled floors.

He went straight for a coffee, turned around and sprinted back for the gate when something caught his eye.

Fai turned around very slowly from his spot and gazed up at the mini Barnes and Nobles bookstore, grinning happily.

_The plane can wait. But I'm definitely going to have a look see here._

---

Kurogane had come across a torn page in the book and scowled. How rude, treating a precious book like this horribly.

The man reached down to take another copy when a pale hand took it first, zipping it away from his reach. Kurogane scowled.

"Hey that was-."

He looked up and paled.

That guy with the blond hair was there again, the one with the blue eyes.

He looked up at Kurogane and gasped.

"Oh, it's you!" Before he could say anything else, Kurogane turned around to leave but was stopped when the azure eyes locked onto him.

"I was going to apologize for yesterday for acting so rudely." He jumped in front of the ruby eyed man and stopped him from going any further. "My name's Fai. I haven't told you that already, have I?" He paused for a moment and thought.

"Hmm, well I don't think I did…" Groaning in impatience Kurogane walked around Fai and walked up to the counter, placing the damaged book in front of the cashier.

"This book's ripped and there are no more copies. Do you happen to have any more?"

The young woman blushed as she met his impatient eyes.

"U-Um, I think we do. S-Stay here and I'll check." The lady, whose named was Lydia, had turned around and walked into a room in the back.

Kurogane drummed his fingers on the counter, bored.

_How long does it take for a stupid woman to get a damnable book?_

"Sorry, there are none," Lydia whispered as she returned. Kurogane sighed. "B-But I can order one and send it to your house if you're that desperate-!" He held up his hands to stop here and turned away, huffing.

Fai had been listening into the conversation, no matter how rude it was of him, but he found it rather amusing. A man like him into photography books such as this? Very odd.

"Excuse me," Fai chimed in just as Kurogane had left the counter. "Here, I was just holding this for him." He placed the thick photo book in front of Lydia and smiled sweetly at her. "That's about 1,993 yen right?" The woman nodded slowly and accepted the money, putting it into the register and taking out the change.

"H-Here you go."

Fai winked at her. "Thank you dear." He picked up his book and joyfully whistled as he pranced out of the bookstore, leaving a very red woman.

Opening one of his closed eyes he had spotted the tall yet slender man. Fai ran up to him and shouted out,

"Hey, I got the book you wanted!"

Kurogane looked back just a bit and grimaced as he saw the lanky man whose face literally screamed out 'happy-happy-joy-joy'.

"Ah."

Fai caught up to him and thrust the book into his chest softly. He looked up at him proudly, as if he had succeeded in the impossible of all tasks.

"I knew you wanted it a lot so I decided to buy it for you. Here."

Kurogane wrapped his hand around the book carefully, looking down at the giggling man once. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't get anything out. The taller of the two shook his head.

_It's not right to just take it from him_.

He took Fai's hand and placed it on the book, closing it on the hard cover. "Sorry. I can't take it."

Fai blinked in confusion as the shadowy figure of Kurogane had mixed up with the sea of people running back and forth the airport.

He held the book loosely, just enough to keep it from falling from his grasp.

Very slowly he opened his mouth to speak.

All he managed to get out was a "Huh?"

---

"_Gate 4A leaving for France is boarding soon."_

Fai groaned and ran for his life towards the gate mentioned before, huffing.

_C'mon, c'mon…_

As he saw people lining up, he let out a whoop of joy and jumped up in the air as he approached the entrance. He let out a sigh as he reached his destination that was still blocked by security.

"Finally, I'm not late!"

---

"_Gate 4B leaving for England is boarding soon."_

Red eyes scanned the sea of people and snorted when he couldn't find Yuuko or Watanuki. "What the hell are they doing anyway?"

"Kuro-wanko! Kuro-wanko!"

Yuuko waved her arms in the air from far deeper into the crowd, jumping up and down, trying to catch the man's attention. Kurogane smirked. She always found a way to amuse him.

"Let's hurry, the plane's about to leave!" Yuuko pulled both Watanuki and Kurogane towards the gate, dragging the luggage along with her too.

Watanuki let out a sigh. "Tell me why I'm here in the first place. I was going to go straight to Japan, thank you very much!"

Yuuko shrugged. "It's because you're seeing Himawari-chan in England, no?" Watanuki rolled his eyes.

"It's just a stupid reunion and besides I don't-."

The lady of the three grinned. "Ah, but I heard Doumeki-kun is coming too," she interrupted, poking him in the ribs. Watanuki snorted.

"Yeah right, just because Do- Wait did you just say Doumeki's coming?" Watanuki muttered, glaring at the woman. She laughed evilly.

"I invited him because I thought he would be bored in the temple! Bringing a monk like him won't bring the party mood down, would it?"

The teenager huffed. "Yeah, but I know what he'll bring down…"

Kurogane couldn't help but laugh at the teenager's sudden anger. "Relax he's not going to kill you or anything. I thought you were on good sides with him." Watanuki turned his face quickly to hide his blush.

"Pfft! Good sides? There are no good sides on that pathetic, cheap, no-good, dirt eating, pain in the ass-!"

Before the teen could finish his sentence, he tripped over his own rolling bag, causing him to fall face first.

"… Damn it."

"Boy Watanuki-kun, you sure are funny," Yuuko laughed, helping the boy up. "But really, next time you're going to insult the archer, try to look where you're going too – of course, if you're capable of multi-tasking."

Oh how Watanuki wanted to punch his elder in the face for mocking him. Instead, he kept still, shaking slightly.

"Ah wait, let me find the ticket…" Kurogane heard someone mumble from the other side of their gate. He looked across and frowned when he saw the blond guy rummaging through his pockets, his bag, looking for the ticket.

"Darn it, I can't find the stupid piece of paper!"

He rolled his eyes as the man's straightforward and immatureness. "Jesus Christ…" Just in case, Kurogane looked through his own pockets to check if he had his own ticket. He smiled as his fingers touched the thin piece of paper.

"No, I can't find it!"

Kurogane glanced to the side again and stifled a laugh as the man began to take apart his suitcase, looking underneath and in between his clothes.

Looking across the tiled floors, he noticed a ticket lying on the floor, ready to be picked up or stepped on sooner or later. Nudging the aggravated Watanuki in the ribs, he pointed out the piece of paper.

He leaned down near his ear and whispered something, soon pointing at the struggling man across from them. Watanuki grinned.

"Oh so you're caring now, huh?" Kurogane snorted.

"Shut the hell up and just get the ticket."

The boy went to retrieve the ticket and handed it to the panicking blond man. He gratefully accepted it, giving Watanuki a heart warming smile. Watanuki smiled back before returning to where Yuuko and Kurogane were.

"He's a nice man that Fai person is. You should have given it to him yourself."

"_Gate 4A leaving to France boarding now."_

"_Gate 4B leaving to England boarding now."_

Kurogane stole one last look at the laughing man and walked through the now open tunnel, showing his ticket and then totally being separated from the amusing blond.

_Hmm. An odd man, isn't he?_

---

As Fai waited in line to get through, he noticed a familiar tall man with those gleaming garnet eyes walking with the boy who had returned the ticket to him before.

_I wonder if he knows him_.

"Ticket please," the woman asked, stopping Fai from walking any farther. He showed his ticket happily and skipped into the entrance tunnel leading to the plane, casting a glance at the man whose name he had not known yet once more.

And then they were totally separated.

_He seems nice, that tall man…_

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**Ugh, I don't like it. It was boring and unappealing to me. Anyway, at least it's done. Now to do school homework and watch more Korean dramas!**

**Okay so – cough – let's get this straight. I'll have some sort of schedule that won't work everyday but it might. Every other day (_maybe_) I'll be able to update one of my stories. So the order would be like _Dewdrops_, _Memories_, _Engaged_, etc, depending on the popularity and stuff. Well okay.**

**I hope you review! This chapitre wasn't really fun but I thought showing how carefree Fai could be was really awesomez0rz!**

**Review pl0x!**

**-Muffinizer**


	3. Moments

_Memories_

_Chapitre Three_

_Moments_

**Third chapitre of _Memories_… Gosh, I'm so happy I finished my previous story that right now, I shall finish this chapitre in one day. Just you watch! (Psh, yeah right. XD)**

**Disclaimer: Meh, not mine. "I do not own this anime/manga. I did not make profit from making this story" my ass. My disclaimers pwnz0rz yours. D:**

**Full Summary: The photographer Fai D. Flowright loves to take pictures of nature everywhere around the world. Another tourist has the same hobby, taking pictures of historical sites. Unfortunately on their recent trip, they have switched cameras with each other's photos. Will they be able to give the cameras back? And what will happen then?**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**_One picture can capture so many moments, so many events at once…_**

Fai was busily eating away, devouring his peanuts because the air plane food was horrible.

_Hmm… Maybe I should get a coke or something._

…

"Let me listen to it!"

"No way!"

"Yuuko-san, sit still!"

"But it's _my_ CD!"

"Hell no, Witch. I burned the CD in the first place!"

"Kurogane, give me my Suga CD!"

And over and over and over again. Kurogane thought he could die in the three hour air plane trip, and he was surprised that he actually managed to survive ten minutes of the ride.

"Yuuko-san, please, just watch the movie!" Watanuki begged as he tried to get his mentor down into her seat again.

Yuuko was trying to strangle Kurogane for stealing her most prized possessions – in other words, her CD collection – and was so close when she saw the plate of food shoved before her face.

The stewardess dressed in a uniform, all blue, with that little hat and white gloves, placed the separate plates of food on each person's extendable tables.

"Ah, thank you!" Yuuko chirped, pushing herself off of Kurogane and digging into her food. Kurogane mouthed a silent thank you to the woman before turning his attention back to his own meal.

…

Fai let out a sigh as he sat back into his chair, watching the big screen before him that was currently playing _50 First Dates_. It was amusing, really, as the protagonist had fallen in love with a woman who constantly thinks it's a certain day.

_Boy, if I loved a girl like that, I'd rather kill myself…_ Fai thought to himself. The man had finished about two bags of the peanuts within those ten minutes, not because he was hungry, but more along the lines because he had nothing else to do.

Putting on his earphones, Fai selected a song from his MP3 player while he took out the camera hidden deep inside of his bag. And once again, the blond began to look through the pictures of nature and sculptures found in museums all around the world.

"Ah, temples of Japan. Beautiful. Simply beautiful…" Fai began humming while looking through the separate photographs, most of them taken in outside museums and others in indoor museums.

"Sir would you like something to eat?" the stewardess asked as she brought up the cart of food, smiling at him sweetly. Fai thought for a moment, staring at the piles of cookies and other junk food. He stuck out his tongue.

"Eh, I think I'll pass. Thank you though," Fai admitted. The blond grinned back at her with double the charm, almost making the female next to him blush. With a nod the stewardess left the row Fai was in and continued down, stopping by each person, asking what they would want.

Fai let out a big sigh as he continued listening to his music. _Oh, what's this_?

A zoomed in picture of a tree frog attached to an oak tree was what Fai was staring at for what seemed like forever.

_Frogs…?_ It took a while for him to connect the pieces together; the pieces of what had happened previously.

_So first there's this guy… the tall guy with red eyes. And then the photo book he was looking at. There was a frog on the cover and he seemed to have loved it… _Fai reached down to the bag underneath his seat and pulled out the hardcover book, staring at the picture of a poison dart tree frog that was near a pond of water.

_Perhaps it's him._

He shook his head, laughing to himself quietly. _Nah, I highly doubt it. He probably wanted to get it for someone he knew. Perhaps a girlfriend or something._

Stuffing the book back into his bag, Fai turned his attention back to the camera. He examined it closely, looking at all the buttons for zooming in, flashing, and modes.

_Bleh. Too old styled. Not really my kind of thing…_

…

Luckily Watanuki managed to get Yuuko to eat her food peacefully without pouncing on Kurogane, strangling him, decapitating him with the nearest sharp item – which was the plastic knife she got with her meal, or perhaps all of the above. The nineteen year old just looked out into the aisle, staring at the carpeted floor of the plane.

Kurogane, however, was staring out the window, gazing at the cumulus clouds that seemed to have engulfed the plane for a moment. Unconsciously he reached into his own leather bag to pull out his camera but froze when realization dawned upon him once more. The camera he was looking for was probably far, far away from England, or even Europe. With a grunt he put down his hand on the arm of the attached chairs, trying to relax from the stress he had received from the previous forty five minutes.

"Hey Kurogane," Yuuko muttered, pointing to the untouched plate of food, "do you want that?" Kurogane shoved the plate onto her own table, rolling his eyes. Hungrily Yuuko stared at the plate, took her plastic knife and began cutting up the steak. If Kurogane wasn't in such a cruddy mood, he would've laughed at the way his mentor was eating.

Letting out a rather big sigh which, of course, had shocked Watanuki and Yuuko, he dully stared at the puffy clouds, reminding him of cotton candy. Kurogane smirked as he felt the familiar taste of the sweetness lingering on his tongue, melting slowly, oh so slowly, evaporating second after second…

"_Hey Kurogane, wanna try this?" his mother asked while handing out a big, pink and blue ball of opaque cotton._

"_Okaa-san what is that?" the young Kurogane, age seven, asked as he poked at the soft yet somewhat fuzzy substance that was put together on paper rolled up as a cone. His mother laughed at his confused face._

"_Kurogane, this is cotton candy. See, you rip a part of it off, put it in your mouth at let it melt!" Curious, the seven year old ripped a small chunk of the cotton from the cone, stuffing it in his mouth and giving a rather odd look as he thought about the unusual taste, the weird yet awesome sensation he received as it disintegrated._

_His face brightened to a whole new level as the sweetness was gone. "Wow, okaa-san, where'd you get this from?" Kurogane asked, jumping up and down happily. His mother smiled down at him with a silly look on her face._

_She pointed up at the clouds that were shrouding the clear, dark night of Birmingham. "I went up there on an airplane and ripped a part of the cloud off. I used food coloring to make it pink and blue!" The young boy watched in amazement as right then a plane had flown by above them._

"_Here, say cheese!" His mother took out a camera and looked through the lens. "Smile, Kuro-wanko!" With the cotton candy still in his mouth, his mother took the picture quickly. As she looked at the picture, she laughed. "Oh you're so adorable, Kurogane!" She ruffled his hair lightly and brought him up to her chest, hugging him. Still wondering where cotton candy really came from, Kurogane pushed her away and looked at her with big, crimson eyes._

"_So cotton candy comes from clouds while cheese comes from the moon?" he asked, astounded. The woman nodded proudly._

"_Yup! Next time when we go on an airplane ride to Ireland, let's go rip off a piece of the cloud for ourselves!"_

_Kurogane giggled in joy. "Yeah!"_

The present Kurogane, now the age of twenty three, stopped himself from venturing further into his abrupt memory. He never wanted to remember those bitter memories again.

But they came by themselves. Kurogane winced visibly, shuddering slightly, as those cries and gunshots, crashes and orders echoed in his mind…

"Kurogane," Yuuko whispered into his ear before he managed to get to the worst part. He jumped up from his seat, yelling out.

Watanuki looked at him with pitiful eyes, smiling sadly. "Eh, that memory again huh?" Kurogane snorted, shaking his head.

"No. I was just thinking about the fact that my fucking camera was stolen by some ass." His mentor gasped in surprise.

"Your camera was stolen? Kurogane, you should've told us that in the first place!" the teenager yelled, glaring at the photographer in anger. "You know how important that is to you as it is to us!"

The photographer wouldn't reply. He couldn't reply, really. It was true; that camera was just as important to him as it was to them. After all, they created most of the memories with him after his parents left.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't find the time," he muttered, staring back outside where the clouds lingered in the air. Yuuko let out a sigh, slapping him on the back softly.

"Next time when you're going through trouble, don't hesitate to ask, 'kay?" Yuuko stated ruffling his hair like his mother would have years and years ago. A wicked grin appeared on her face as she brought the photographer close up to her.

"And if it's sexual problems, well don't worry either! I shall help you in-."

Watanuki took one of Yuuko's plushies, a white bunny with long floppy ears, and thrust it into her mouth before she could continue.

"Thanks," Kurogane chuckled as he watched, amused, the woman try to pull the doll out. Watanuki just shrugged in reply.

"Don't mention it."

_She so ruined the moment_, Watanuki thought humorously as he began drumming his fingers against the arm of the chair to entertain himself.

_**But what if you want to forget those moments, those moments that are forever scarred into your mind, moments that you can never forget?**_

"Soon approaching the Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Please make sure your seat belts are on while we are landing. Thank you."

Fai glanced up at the sit that was flashing "Seat Belts On" and bounced up and down in his seat.

_Finally. France!_

…

"Soon approaching the London Heathrow Airport. Please fasten all seatbelts whilst landing. Thank you."

After watching Yuuko eat all those lollipops within seconds, Kurogane now regretted it. His mentor was jumping up and down the aisle – though many stewardesses were trying to stop her – throughout the last thirty minutes of the ride and it was a pain.

But when Yuuko heard the message, she quickly planted herself back on the seat, whistling out loud as if nothing had happened. Watanuki could hear faint sighs and grunts of annoyance from the woman as the left their section of the plane.

_Yuuko-san never really was a person for planes…_

"I guess this person here really wasn't born for planes," Kurogane repeated, his words almost the same as what Watanuki had just thought of. It was rather strange to the teenager, but after years and years of living together, Watanuki didn't mind.

"Hey, put your seat belts on!" Watanuki snapped a few seconds later as he noticed his employer playing with the leather belts, twirling it around and humming a song.

"Yuuko-san…" he muttered threateningly, glaring at the woman. But she continued with her little fun, his glare leaving her unfazed. Yuuko continued humming even as Watanuki was shaking his fists in front of her face, so close to punching her right in the face.

But then again, if he did, he would have no job.

…

The plane landed with a silent screech, the screech drowned out by the sounds of children whooping in joy. Fai just smiled to himself as he reached up for his suitcase in the little drawer above.

"Time to visit the Eiffel Tower…"

…

Kurogane slung his backpack over his shoulders with a grunt ignoring the constant chattering to his left.

"Let's go see the Big Ben! Let's go see the Big Ben!" Yuuko repeated happily, tugging at Kurogane's sleeve.

"Yuuko, shut _up_!" he growled, slapping her hand away from his shirt. Yuuko groaned.

"You boys are no fun…" The woman let out an exasperated sigh but returned to eating the remaining peanuts she had gotten – more like stolen – from Watanuki.

"Whoa, England's so pretty!" Kurogane heard a young girl in front of them exclaim as he pressed her face against the window, her breath fogging it up. Her mother who was sitting right next to her laughed.

"No, no Jeanne, this is just an airport. When you meet father in Liverpool it'll be even more beautiful." The girl laughed in excitement, clapping her hands.

Kurogane had smiled without even knowing it himself. Yuuko however caught onto that sign of emotion and decided to use it as blackmail sooner or later.

"Kurogane, do you think you have any spare money to spend at the shops in the airports?"

"No."

"But-."

"_No_."

"Aww, Kuro-pon you're no-."

"_No_!"

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**This chapitre… I liked it. Yeah, I did but um… there was something about it that I _really_ hated. I just don't know what. Well here are some side notes to go along with this chapitre…**

**1. Suga CD – I'm referring to Suga Shikao, who sings the first opening song for_ xxxHolic_ along with the songs for _xxxHolic_ movie. _Sanagi _ftw.**

**2. _Fifty First Dates_ – That was actually a movie I watched during my ride to Korea. I couldn't pick anything else. (It was the first thing that popped into my mind…) That movie isn't mine.**

**3. Yes, I made Kurogane twenty three in this story. Because I don't wanna make him too old or too young. That little flashback just goes along with the title "Moments".**

**4. I myself have _never_ been to Europe before. So I looked up airports, cities and all that stuff on Wikipedia. Thanks to them. XD**

**5. The Eiffel Tower and the Big Ben. Yes. I had _nothing_ else to pick. I've also wanted to see those two…**

**Well, chapitre three of _Memories_ is over. I hope you guys enjoyed it. (I just couldn't help but laugh at how childish I made Yuuko-san… Oh boy.)**

**Oh; before I wrap this up, I'm also thinking of another (yes another) Fai-Kurogane story called _Alleys of Venice_. When I type up the next chapitre I'll add some little preview of it so if you think it's good enough to post, tell me!**

**Review if you have the time.  
**

**-Muffinizer, nyo.**


	4. Quality

_Memories_

_Chapitre Four_

_Quality_

**Well, fourth chapitre; this one… will probably be amusing. Say there's a time skip once they entered England/France. For about um, two days. Yeah. Let's do that. So let's go now, shall we:D**

**Disclaimer: Have I ever said that I owned _any_ manga and/or anime in my life before? Because if I have, shoot me now.**

**Full Summary: The photographer Fai D. Flowright loves to take pictures of nature everywhere around the world. Another tourist has the same hobby, taking pictures of historical sites. Unfortunately on their recent trip, they have switched cameras with each other's photos. Will they be able to give the cameras back? And what will happen then?**

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**_Quality of a photograph shows the skills of the photographer…_**

Kurogane was fiddling around with the camera strap for hours, staring at the texture, the design, and the colour itself. He sighed and threw the strap of leather onto his bed. Instead he reached down underneath the bed to take out his traveler's bag and pulled out the camera.

_The camera I got from my last trip…_ Kurogane thought to himself. With a _bleep_ he turned the camera on and began looking through the hundreds of pictures this person had taken for years.

When skimming through the camera, Kurogane realized something. Not only were these pictures well taken, but some of them were taken at some places he had been to. By the end of the twentieth picture the man looked down at the date when the picture was taken. September 18th. Tapping his chin with a pen he had tucked behind his ear before he went into his bedroom, he thought about when he had visited the Tai O that was in Hong Kong, China.

_I visited there during the fall, no?_

…

Fai was still busy unpacking – apparently he was lazy and for the last two days at France, he had been playing around near the Eiffel Tower or those fancy restaurants where snails were food.

Around and around the white room that was decorated with frilly curtains, wallpaper of tiny carnations, and a canopy bed draped with silver-white translucent cloth the photographer walked. All the while he was scratching his head, thinking about the camera he had kept safe for the past three days. There was no name on the camera whatsoever. And the fact that it could've been anyone in the sauna that day, or the day before, or even the day before that put more pressure onto him.

"What am I supposed to do with you?" he muttered to himself, glaring at the camera as if it was its fault. Of course, it gave back no reply so Fai just shrugged his shoulders and continued pacing around the room. Once around the perimeter, twice around the small table in the middle of the room, once around the bed stand placed near the window, and three times around the bed – while jumping over it, of course – Fai walked to think.

But still, nothing came to mind as he plopped down onto the bed, sighing as his grip on the bed sheets tightened. All this stress, all this _thinking_ was hurting his head badly and he wanted it to go away now.

'_Kisukeba itsudemo soba ni irukeredo Honto wa kirai suki mo sou na no?'_

Leaning back onto the bed, Fai stretched his arm out and barely managed to grab his camera phone. He stared at the number wearily, grunting as he flipped it open.

"Eh, moshi moshi," the blond grumbled.

"_Fai!" _Said man blinked a couple of times, took the phone away from his ear and examined the number again. Underneath the number read _'Ashura-otoutou.'_

"… Ashura?" Fai muttered, expecting his younger brother to suddenly pop out of the phone, embrace him tightly until his face turned as blue as his eyes, and then kiss him as if he were his lost puppy.

The younger laughed from the other side. _"Eh, aniki, you never call anymore."_

"Well, I'm kinda busy in France," Fai lied. After all, the last two days he just ran around the perimeter of the Eiffel Tower, drank dozens of cups of tea, and actually tried the snails. That's not really considered being 'busy' to other people's standards.

…

Yuuko was talking in every phone they had in that small room of theirs in England. "Moshi, moshi – ah Himawari-chan! You're going to the reunion tonight right? Of course; Watanuki-kun is here too!"

The employee shouted out a colourful string of curses from the shower stall in the bathroom. Yuuko decided to ignore it.

"Oh, Doumeki-kun is there too?" More curses. "Yes, tell him that Watanuki missed him during the summer!" And a whole lot more curses.

Kurogane couldn't help but laugh at the constant banging, the colourful words streaming from Watanuki's mouth.

"Calm down boy," he called out into the bathroom, "Yuuko isn't that serious." Kurogane turned to face Yuuko and an eyebrow shot upwards. "You aren't serious, right?" he mouthed, pointing at the cell phone she held in her hands.

"Oh I'm sure as hell serious," Yuuko replied, smirking. The man snorted and retreated to his own room, carrying the fifth suitcase they had brought over.

"Ah, Zashiki-chan, how are you? Yes, how is Ame-chan? Good I suppose. Watanuki's going a bit crazy right now, God knows why. But yes, you do miss him, no? I bet Watanuki likes you too, Zashiki-chan."

"Ichihara Yuuko, you better-!"

"Ooh, he sounds really mad. Well I must go now," Yuuko chattered into her third phone. "I'll call you later. Hah, ja ne, Zashiki-chan!" Giddily the woman snapped the phone shut just when Watanuki barged into the living room, a towel loosely tied around his waist, pointing an accusing finger at the woman.

"You, you…!"

Yuuko dropped the phone and fled, laughing all the while as Watanuki chased after her droplets of water running down his back and hair.

…

Fai was sprawled on his bed, laughing into the phone as his younger brother made weird imitations of his roommate when sleeping.

"_No really, the whole times he's like 'Whee-snaw, whee-snaw!'" _Ashura muttered. The blond man couldn't help but chuckle childishly.

"Ashura-chan, when are you finishing college?" Fai asked as he swung his legs lazily from the side of the bed. His younger brother let out an hmm and thought for a moment, drumming his fingers against his desk.

"_Well, as soon as that damnable English teacher accepts the fact that I spell words with a 'u'. Y'know like, c-o-l-o-u-r and f-a-v-o-u-r-i-t-e. Bull, I tell you."_

The photographer grinned silently, even though Ashura couldn't see him smile. "Well that's why you should've followed me into photography, Ashura-chan."

Ashura snorted across the line and then there was the sound of paper being crumpled. _"Hmm. All you do is click some damn button and call it art. That's nothing." _Fai tsked in disapproval.

"Now, now, Ashura. Don't use foul words." Again the younger snorted; there was the sound of paper hitting some kind of plastic now. "Especially towards your elders, Ashura."

"_Bah. You were always otou-san's favourite son. Least expected from you, aniki,"_ Ashura joked as he leaned back against his wheeled chair, holding the phone up between his ear and shoulder. _"So you're going to some national 'photography' meeting for geeks in Germany, right?" _Fai laughed again.

"It's not for geeks, Ashura-chan! Berenice Abbott was _definitely_ not a geek. Plus, she wrote poetry too, no?" He heard some curses on the other side of the line, more grumbling and then a sigh.

"_Why do you always want to prove me wrong, aniki?"_

"Probably because I was born that way," Fai replied, half-joking. Ashura snorted at his brother's statement.

"_Well, aniki, I have to go now. Yasha-kun is coming over soon and I don't want to-."_

"Ah, Yasha-kun, hmm?" Fai giggled, his words sounding somewhat mischievous. "You haven't been _doing_ anything with him, have you…?" he asked, his voice dropping to a very, very hinting tone. The blond man heard a gasp from the other side and bit his hand to stifle his laughter.

"_A-Aniki, you know I wouldn't d-do anything like **that**!"_ Ashura stammered as he began to frantically wave his arms in the air to exaggerate his point, even if his aniki wasn't there to see him spazz out.

"Oh, that's what people always say. I can see right through you, Ashura-chan." His voice was still teasing which threw Ashura off.

"_Anikiiii!"_ he whined. _"Cut it out!"_

…

The trio was having a grand time. Yep. A _grand_ time. Of course, if you considered killing four hours just to bake pastries for the friends they would meet at the party 'fun'.

"Give me the damn flour," Kurogane ordered as he tried to wipe the yellow yolk off his shoulders. With his other hand he was picking at the egg shells stuck in his spiky hair. "Hurry up, Yuuko!"

The mentor, however, was busy writing last minute cards to her friend, humming a light tune whilst doing so. Watanuki let out a groan as he shoved the bag of flour into Kurogane's chest that was protected with a black apron. On that black apron was a familiar white bunny with those long, floppy ears and an earring pierced onto its right one.

"Man, I bet they're probably going to eat something much better than this crap!" the teenager grumbled as he cracked another egg, watching the yolk slowly drip out. "And plus, I don't want to look like a total mess in front of Do-." Watanuki paused, thinking over about what he was going to say. "Uh, I mean…"

Yuuko caught onto the falter and smirked. "You don't want to look like a mess in front of Doumeki-kun because?" Even Kurogane dropped the tea spoon he was using to measure the milk, turning to look at Watanuki with interested eyes.

"Well, um, because… Because I don't want him to make fun of me again, duh!" With a huff Watanuki spun around and continued with his mixing, attacking the substance with the spoon, thinking that it was Doumeki's stoic face instead of the actual mix.

_Die, die, die!_

Finally the woman put her pen down after she drew the black swallowtail butterfly at the bottom right corner of the card, sighing in content.

"All in a minute's work." Kurogane rolled his eyes.

… **_but the actual skills depend on whether the photographer truly loves taking pictures, whether the photographer is willing to spend the rest of his life doing so._**

They were taking a car that Yuuko had 'borrowed' and were off to the house in which the party was held. All of them were excited.

Yuuko was excited because one: she got to meet her younger sisters Maru and Moro, two: she heard the food there was excellent and three: she wanted to see Watanuki's face when he sees Doumeki that night; she had planned _everything_ out.

Watanuki was excited because he got to see his friends, particularly one person. Not only did he want to show off his food to that 'person', he also wanted to meet Zashiki again seeing that they haven't met since Valentine's last year.

Kurogane, surprisingly, was in the partying mood that night; only because they said that the scenery up in at the second floor was fantastic.

As they reached their destination, the oldest of the three literally let go of the steering wheel and started whooping, yelling out words and calls even Watanuki couldn't understand. Kurogane shouted out and lunged for the wheel, grasping it tightly as the woman was in the state of insaneness.

"_That's_ why I told you to let _me_ drive!" Watanuki spat as he clung onto his seat for his dear life. The photographer just snorted.

"Help me get this woman under control damn it! You've been with her for years straight; help!"

…

"Well, that's all of it," Fai muttered and dropped the pile of photo books onto his bed with a thump. He jumped onto the silk sheets, curling up against them and letting out what seemed so close to a purr.

"Wai, I'm so tired…" The blond photographer kicked the empty cardboard box off his bed and sprawled on top of it once more. Stretching his arms, he let out a yawn before closing his eyes and grabbing for a white pillow, placing it under his head.

"Hrm… Nighty-night, camera…" Fai murmured in his sleep, drifting off slowly, slowly into his own world.

…

"Land!" Watanuki let out a cry as he jumped out of the van and landed on his knees. He began kissing the grass, loving like he had never before.

Yuuko gave him an odd look. "And you call _me_ crazy?" Kurogane couldn't help but laugh.

"Both of you are."

"Ah, Watanuki-kun!" a girl with two, long ponytails that reached up to her waist shouted as she ran up to the three. Watanuki, who was momentarily praying to God for letting them come in one piece, glanced up. His face brightened immediately.

"Himawari-chan!" Watanuki literally sang, dancing around the front lawn of the prestigious house before them. He began twirling around in circles, arms in the air, his face in total bliss. That is, before a big, rough hand came down on his shoulder hard, stopping him from turning around in a circle.

Surprised, Watanuki looked over his shoulder. His bright, happy-happy-joy-joy look immediately fell, just as fast as it had come on in the first place.

"D-Doumeki!" he stuttered, pushing the archer away from him. "Y-You bastard, don't touch me like that!" The ever stoic, emotionless teenager snorted.

"Oi, get in before we have to called the cops and get you out of here." Watanuki fumed.

"How many times have I told you _not_ to say 'oi' to me, damn it? And what cops? I haven't done anything wrong!" he yelled, taking out his anger on the archer. All Doumeki did was cover his ears with the palm of his hands and mutter, "So noisy."

"Don't 'so noisy' me, bastard!" Watanuki spat, going into his raging mode. Yuuko had to cut in between the fight before things got a bit too serious.

Kurogane let out a groan as the two – mainly Watanuki – bickered about random topics. Then another girl with midnight blue hair with pink flowers pinned to her hair walked up to the two, tapping on Watanuki's shoulder lightly.

"Um…"

Watanuki whipped his head around and yelled, "What?" before even looking at who it was. He paused for a moment and then nervousness struck him like a wave. "Oh uh, Zashiki-chan…"

He began laughing, which clearly was a fake laugh, and patted the young girl on the shoulder. "H-How have you been?"

The photographer couldn't help but roll his eyes at how stiff Watanuki acted around the girl. Even _he_ wasn't so spazzy around females.

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**Eep, sorry I had to cut this short! I cut it short because I was gonna add the preview for my next story 'n stuff. Um… Review; though there really isn't anything to review about – cough – So um yeah, here's the preview and stuffz0rz…**

_**Alleys of Venice**_

_**Chapitre One**_

_**Venezia**_

… Fai D. Flowright was stumbling through the town's alleyways while carrying two bags of groceries. He grunted as he blindly tripped over a rock on the ground again, cursing quietly as he lost his grip on one of the bags. Picking up the fruits and vegetables he had recently bought, Fai stuffed them in the brown paper bag again before setting off.

"That's it; get the gold spoon, Cane! We can make _tons_ of Lire from that!" someone with a voice deep yet rather high shouted. Cats started screeching at the sudden exclamation and scattered away before Fai's feet.

"Shh! You make too much noise!" another scolded. A light smack was heard and then the previous boy let out a yelp.

"Both of you, shut up!" a boy who was busy doing something ordered, silencing the two. Curious, Fai walked down the alley until the narrow path ended and an apartment covered in vines appeared before him.

Fai looked up and spotted three figures on the roof of the apartment. One, apparently, was trying to break into the house by ripping the roof off, while the other two were fighting over what to get. Fai, being the good guy, dropped his grocery bags, ran up to the building and shouted,

"Hey! You three, get off of that apartment!" he yelled just enough for them to hear but not loud enough to wake up all of Venezia. One of the figures looked down from the roof, the person's head popping out. Fai could barely make out the unruly chestnut hair, but his eyes look as black as the sky.

"Shh! We're trying to-."

"I know what you're trying to do!" Fai snapped. "It's wrong to steal from other people's house, especially the type of things that people treasure." He placed his hands on his hips, glaring at the boy who was looking at him intensely.

"So get off the roof now before I call someone." Fai huffed and turned to pick up his bags when a cold hand wrapped around his waist, trapping him so he couldn't move. The person behind him took his other hand and placed it over Fai's mouth, shushing him.

"You won't tell _anyone_ about this," the person whispered threateningly, his mouth right beside Fai's ear, "because if you do, you won't be able to see the next sunrise of tomorrow." Fai let out an audible gulp as the person before him slowly let go of him, painstakingly slow. "Understood?"

Unable to find his voice, Fai nodded quickly before running off to grab his bag of groceries and dashing into the alley once again.

_Detour, schmetour. I'd rather walk fifteen miles than meet up with **that** guy again._

He glanced back once to catch the person's eyes. His jaw dropped as he saw the unreadable crimson-like eyes staring back at him and gulped again when he saw the playful smirk plastered on his face. Fai ran for his life.

**So uh, that's one part of the chapitre. Definitely not the beginning, but it's like, the middle part. Mhmm. Yep. Yeah err, review pl0x. – Is in a rather awkward mood – **

**Notes **

**1. Zashiki and Ame-chan are those people from _xxxHolic_; y'know the one that controls rain and the one that gives Watanuki-kun something for Valentine's?**

**2. Yes, the white bunny _is_ Mokona-chan. I just love him.**

**3. Ashura is Fai's _younger brother_. I did not want them to hate each other so yeah. And when I read the Shura country chapitre, Yasha and Ashura looked so cute together that I just _had_ to put Yasha-kun in.**

**4. 'Whee-snaw, whee-snaw'. Apparently that's from Spongebob the episode when he brings a sea horse. (My sister watches it and um… heh.)**

**5. Berenice Abbott _was_ a real person. Thanks to Wikipedia. Again. **

**6. And that whole 'Land!' thing came from um, _The Pacifier_. Really weird movie. Whatever.**

**Oh, if any of you (I know some reviewers have) have visited France or England, can you tell me any like, cool spots they can visit within the story? Yeah… Gimme some ideas of countries/places pl0x!**

**Thanks again to all those who review. – Smiles –**

**Well, till next time…**

**-Muffinizer nyo**


	5. Lenses

_Memories_

_Chapitre Five_

_Lenses_

**Chapitre five up and ready to go! Whew; I'm like, dead tired right now. I couldn't get much sleep over the past few days… Well, thanks to my reviewers (you know who you are) and to one of them I must reply in public:**

"**_Is Yasha a boy? I just can't seem to get it straight…"_ I don't know why, but that made me laugh hysterically. Yes, Yasha is a boy. XD!**

**Note: I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. There's gonna be some Watanuki-Doumeki moments, nya…**

**Disclaimer: Yes, _Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE_ is mine! … – dies – Lol, yeah right. No, _Tsubasa_ isn't mine. D:**

**Full Summary: The photographer Fai D. Flowright loves to take pictures of nature everywhere around the world. Another tourist has the same hobby, taking pictures of historical sites. Unfortunately on their recent trip, they have switched cameras with each other's photos. Will they be able to give the cameras back? And what will happen then?**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**_Clear as glass, you can see anything through the small lens of a camera, everything in front of you…_**

The sound of pencil against paper occupied the room during the night as the blond photographer sat near his empty desk with a sketchbook, drawing out statues and scenery from the camera he had found.

During their talk a few hours ago, Ashura had mentioned something about becoming an illustrator for several stories in his company. Fai had agreed with him, saying that a job as an illustrator was probably far easier than an actual author.

Ashura however had disagreed with him; he said that, from Yasha, being an illustrator was just as hard, if not _harder_, than being an author. The photographer just told him that it was up to Ashura himself.

His younger brother also brought up the fact that Fai was an excellent artist. Ashura continued teasing him, saying that the only reason he picked up art and photography was because he wanted to impress a girl from the grade six. Fai protested against that, a tint of anger clear in his voice.

"I took art and photography for a reason; you should know why, otoutou," was what Fai had thrown back at his younger brother, not trying to be too harsh on him, but just enough for Ashura to get the point. Ashura fell silent for the moment and the blond man could have seen the frown etched on his face that time.

Mainly, the only reason why Fai had picked up a camera in the first place was because of its structure, how it functioned, how it worked. His father was once an artist, an artist known for his work of scenery. As a young boy, Fai thought that drawing was boring, and the simple act of pressing a button on the camera was lame.

His father had shown him how to take pictures, being a fellow photographer himself, and showed him around the mountainous area surrounding their house in the countryside.

"First, you must capture the picture with your heart before you take it yourself."

Fai was struggling with his drawing, constantly erasing and redrawing whenever the line was uneven or if the baseline structure was completely thrown off. Eraser shavings surrounded the white paper with marks here and there. The photographer glanced back at the camera placed beside him, staring at the picture once more before working on the drawing.

_Someday, I have to prove to otou-san that I can capture the scene with the camera as well as my heart…_

…

"Gimme more!" Yuuko chanted as she danced across the room with two empty bottles of booze in her hands. She spun around endlessly, giggling like a fan girl who had just barely touched her loved one's hand accidentally, as her younger siblings Maru and Moro followed suit.

"Give us more, give us more!" they sang, dancing around together on their toes like ballerinas.

Watanuki was in the corner of the vast ballroom, feet propped on top of another cushioned chair and let out a rather exhausted sigh as he dropped another empty cup. Apparently he was getting a bit high on Sprite.

"Hey, Kuro-rinta, join us will ya?" the drunk Yuuko slurred as she pulled at the photographer's long black sleeve of his coat. Kurogane looked up from the camera in his hands and stifled a yawn.

"Eh?"

"Dance with me, Kuro-pon!" Yuuko grabbed the man by the shoulders and brought him up to the middle of the room, spinning around and around the confused man. Watanuki laughed at his facial expression as his mentor continued dancing as if there was no tomorrow.

"Oi." A ghostly hand appeared on Watanuki's shoulder which made the teenager jump off the cushioned chair. He spun around and growled as he saw Doumeki in front of him, leaning against one of the pillars that created a circle around the lit room.

"How many times have I told you _not_ to say-?" Watanuki was cut off as Doumeki leaned forward and placed his long index finger on his lips, shushing him for the moment.

"Shut up, okay?"

The employee stood there for a moment, the heat of Doumeki's fingers burning his bottom lip until he could take it no longer. He smacked his hand away from his face, gasping slightly for air.

"D-Don't touch me like that," Watanuki stammered, mentally kicking himself for stuttering. The taller, more masculine teenager hovering before him raised an eyebrow just a bit, hinting a sign of amusement.

"And if I did it again?" The employee, once again, stood there, dumbfounded, unable to reply. He quickly glanced up to meet with Doumeki's unemotional grey-ish eyes. They were unreadable like never before and Watanuki couldn't make himself rip his gaze away from his. Instead they were locked into each other's longing gaze for quite a while.

Watanuki faltered a bit when Doumeki advanced one step closer. And again. And again.

Soon Watanuki was in the middle of the ballroom floor with Doumeki right in front of him, their chests only an inch apart. Daringly the employee looked up at Doumeki's face to find the stoic expression, those unreadable eyes. But he found ones that were hazy, ones that seemed that they wanted something badly.

The teenager gulped.

"Eh, D-Doumeki, are you drunk or something…?" he asked, backing up farther as Doumeki reached out to grab his hand. And then he smirked.

If Watanuki wasn't so freaked out about Doumeki's current state, he would've gasped at the fact that Doumeki was smirking, almost smiling.

"What makes you think that?" the archer breathed, leaning closer towards the quivering boy.

"N-Nothing, I just thought-." Watanuki caught a whiff of Cognac beer as Doumeki breathed slowly, exhaling the smell. He shivered. Yup, Doumeki was _definitely_ drunk, period.

"Hmm… You can say I am," he muttered, somewhere along the lines of a whisper as his head bent down lower so he was eye level with the shorter one. "Does it seem like I'm drunk to you?"

"Yes!" It sounded more like a squeak than an exclamation. Doumeki couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction and reached out to brush a few strands of hair that fell over Watanuki's eyes.

"I see. Do you want me to stop acting like this?" Step after step he advanced with Watanuki stepping back and back.

The only thing Watanuki could focus on was the hazy look on Doumeki's face. That was all.

However, Yuuko and Kurogane, who were still 'dancing' on the floor, caught onto the whole thing between Watanuki and Doumeki. They also saw the surprised looks on Zashiki and Ame, and of course Maru and Moro. Himawari, on the other hand, was rather happy seeing them that close together.

"They were made for each other," she whispered into Zashiki's ear, who in fact was currently making sure she wasn't drooling as her jaw dropped at the sight of the two that close.

Snapping out of the trance that Doumeki had put him in, Watanuki glanced around and spotted the people's expressions. Embarrassed, the boy held both of his hands in front of him and tried pushing against the archer's chest. The archer just chuckled and forced Watanuki to drop his arms.

"Even if you wanted me to, it's like I can't," Doumeki whispered. "I heard that Yuuko-san said that you missed me during the summer… How touching."

**_However, through those lenses you can only see what is happening, not what had happened nor what is going to happen…_**

"I'm finished!" Fai declared as he threw the overly sharpened pencil up into the air, catching it before it hurt someone. The excited photographer stared down at his piece of art, smiling happily as the sketch seemed to have stood out from the paper.

"Perfect," he whispered to himself before taking the notebook and placing it on the shelf above the desk. Fai let out a sigh and flexed his fingers, realizing that they were rather cramped after the restless hour of drawing. He yawned a big yawn as he stretched his arms like people would do before doing aerobics or such.

Fai pushed the chair behind him and got up, brushing the eraser shavings into the nearest garbage disposal can and then swiped the camera off the wooden surface. He had to admit, when comparing his own drawing to the picture the person had taken, the photograph was a whole lot better.

"This person knows what it means to 'capture an image with your heart'…" Fai mumbled as he slowly walked towards the single bed that was placed in the edge of the room, right next to the balcony. He hung the camera around his neck by the camera strap and slid the glass door aside, letting the cool night air of Montpellier whoosh into the room. Luckily his hotel was somewhere near the place de la Comédie so he could see the bustling roads of the city every morning.

Stepping out onto the balcony, he put on the slippers he left there so he could rest there with space. He puffed out his chest as the shivering winds blew against him, making him regret wearing such a thin white undershirt and jeans that hung low on his hips. Fai reached out, his hands reaching up to catch the stars and a smile played on his lips.

"_Hey, remember when I told you about Polaris?" a man with familiar blond hair yet dazzling amber-brown eyes asked the six-year-old kid who was gazing up at the stars above them._

"_Mhmm."_

"_Wanna know how your mommy and I met?" the blonde's father tease, his brown eyes sparkling. With interest, the six-year-old gasped and turned to face his father._

"_Tell me, tell me!" Fai chanted, over-excited. He had always loved stories from his father, especially from his mother, whenever they were stargazing._

_The man chuckled. "One night when we were in Iceland, I met your mother at the school of art. We were assigned a project which consisted of the star, Polaris. We were to look up pictures of the star, if not see it personally one night, and use it as a theme, use it to compare one thing or person." The young toddler listened intently, bouncing up and down on his father's lap._

"_Eventually, while we were working on the project together, I noticed that your mother had some special charm to her. I fell in love with her the moment I knew she was special and compared her to the North Star." The man let out a sigh, closing his eyes._

"'_Like Polaris, my beloved shines brighter than any woman out there, her gaze looking upon others with care…' I remember writing that one time," the man laughed as he ruffled his son's blond curls._

"_Telling him that story?" A woman with black curls that went past her shoulders, pale skin and bright royal eyes came up from behind, linking her arms around the man's neck. He chuckled in reply._

"_Of course." The mother stroked Fai's cheek lovingly with her fingers, smiling at her first son._

"_My dear Fai, you have grown up to be a big man now," she whispered, running her hand through the golden soft locks. Fai giggled in response, grabbing his mothers hand and squeezing it lightly._

_There was a soft cry from the bedroom, a cry of an infant and the mother quickly stood up._

"_Oh dear, Ashura-chan must be awake again." Fai's father smiled at his wife._

"_Ah, let's go try to calm him down, shall we, Fai?" The blond looked up from his mother's hand and nodded silently._

"_So daddy, what happened next?" Fai asked as they traveled upstairs to the young Ashura's bedroom._

"_Well, we got married!" he exclaimed cheerfully. But his cheerful expression turned to a rather playful yet serious look. "It's been said that those who are caught under the gaze of Polaris are destined to fall in love. Believe in that, okay, Fai?"_

_Eagerly the blond nodded before jumping out of his father's arms and running up to a crib where an infant, no more than a few months old, lied, crying and waving his arms in the air helplessly. Fai reached down into the crib and began patting baby Ashura's bald head softly, lovingly, cooing as he took his younger brother's small hand and played with it…_

And then there was an abrupt shock in the back of his head, causing Fai to jerk forward suddenly. He let out a gasp in pain as the wave made his head throb slightly, making him feel rather lightheaded.

"Darn," he muttered before leaning against the glass door, covering his eyes with the palm of his hands. "I should really stop lamenting over the past."

…

"God I just _have_ to get a picture of this." With that, Kurogane sprinted to the coffee table that was among the ones scattered around the room. He found his camera and turned it on with a _bleep_. Looking through the lens once more, he took the picture of Watanuki trying to run away from the Doumeki, who was looking at him predatorily.

"Stop looking at m-me like that!" Kurogane heard Watanuki screech as Doumeki let out a light chuckle. Yuuko walked up to him, patting him on the shoulder.

"So you're using the stranger's camera already?" Kurogane jumped in surprise as the slender woman appeared behind him. He let out his breath when he knew it was his mentor.

"Jeez, don't just come up to me like that. And yes, I am. Might as well put it to good use."

…

Sitting on the rocking chair that was placed on the wide balcony, Fai turned the camera on and returned his gaze back up at the twinkling sky. _It's like a sky full of jewels, jewels so bright and majestic that no sinful human can touch…_

The man held the camera up into the sky and clicked the button once. With a flash another picture was taken, another memory of France.

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**I actually liked this chapitre. Oh boy; if you're not a fan of Watanuki-Doumeki (You probably wouldn't be a fan of Fai-Kurogane…) I deeply apologize. I think I was on crack or something when I was writing that. The two just needed to be squished into the story somehow… Once again, I apologize. The mere image of Doumeki being drunk and like, harassing Watanuki made me shiver in a rather amused and fun way. Heh. Not sadistically or anything like that.**

**Y'know, I was thinking to myself: Who the hell is the host of the party? Hmm, let's just say the party was thrown by Maru and Moro themselves… Any notes? Let's see… Oh yes: Cognac is a real wine thing made of fruits and stuff. Montpellier is a rather populated city in France. The place de la Comédie is a real place too. Never been there but it looks so cool. Yeah, I randomly pick cities, okay? Good.**

**I know right now it's kinda focused on Kurogane, but trust me; it'll reveal more of Fai later on. Aja! ****Oh thanks to _bloodytwistedangel_ for saying that my preview for _Alleys of Venice_ pwn-ed. Thanks d00d. ****I finished this in one day. Wow. New record! (Lol.) Review pl0x!**

**-Muffinizer pyu! – is really tired; oh boy – **


	6. Dreaming

_Memories_

_Chapitre Six_

_Dreaming_

**Oh wow, it's the sixth chapitre already! – Feels happy – Okay so with my sexy desktop wallpaper of Syaoran and Mokona (this site has the best ones ever), I shall type another one! Again! … But I _am_ starving in hunger. I haven't eaten a lot during the past few days. Damn. And before I start, I must thank all those who have added my story or me onto your favourite list. Thanks!**

**And to those who live in America: I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!**

**Note: I'm writing like, a hell lotta one-shots right now (Fai-Kurogane and Wata-Doume) and I would appreciate it if you look at them too! There are a couple of other stories like _Cup of Tea_, _Alleys of Venice_, and _Obsession_. Hope you can stop by once I get 'em up!**

**Another Note: I just realized that I centered on Doumeki and Watanuki yesterday. Well then, for a brief moment, I shall introduce my love for the Yasha-Ashura pairing! Whoo! Ah; before I put that in, Ashura goes to college in France so… I shall make the siblings meet in some town one day :D**

**Ah, sorry for not updating in such a while. Well was low again and wouldn't work, damn it.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own _Tsubasa_. Me own this mug of chocolate though. :3**

**Full Summary: The photographer Fai D. Flowright loves to take pictures of nature everywhere around the world. Another tourist has the same hobby, taking pictures of historical sites. Unfortunately on their recent trip, they have switched cameras with each other's photos. Will they be able to give the cameras back? And what will happen then?**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**_Sometimes what you dream can affect what you love, what you dream can inspire you to get whatever you wanted in your life…_**

She went crazy. Purely crazy.

Ichihara Yuuko, the owner of the Wish Makers shop in Tokyo, Japan, was going absolutely crazy over one – more like two – things. And those things were simply so: Watanuki and Doumeki.

Over the past few minutes – thought it seemed like hours to the 'poor' Watanuki – Doumeki was 'harassing' Watanuki in ways that made people squeal in excitement, but clearly made Kimihiro Watanuki pissed.

And they were still going at it; at least, Doumeki Shizuka was. Stuttering, stammering, backing up against walls was what Watanuki was doing the whole time.

Ichihara Yuuko _loved it_.

And so was the camera.

Kurogane, though very uncharacteristic of him, was shooting away, snapping pictures of the two backing up onto the nearest table as Doumeki's pale, large hand would reach out and cup Watanuki's face. Watanuki almost fainted once, not as if a fan girl would if she saw her idol stare at her for a millisecond, but he fainted in aggravation, if not from the immense and ridiculous heat of his cheeks.

"You can tell me to stop," Doumeki muttered, his practically miniscule eyes narrowing down at the teenager.

"But you wouldn't let me go even if I did!" the employee snapped back. The archer smirked again, bringing his face closer to his.

"Ah, I see. So if I say that I'd let you go, would you tell me to?"

"Yes."

"And if I listened to the words you're begging for, do you think you'd be let go?"

"Yes."

"You said you like that Kunogi girl, right?"

"Yes!"

"And you also like to work for Ichihara-san, no?"

"Yes!"

"Do you like m-?"

"_Yes_!" Watanuki yelled, cutting Doumeki off. The taller of the two stood there for a moment, dropping his hand to his waist and gave him an odd look.

"You didn't let me finish my question."

"Yes!" He snapped his mouth shut when he realized what Doumeki was about to ask, and he cursed all the gods up in the heavens for making him impatient.

"_Do you like m-?"_

Obviously, Watanuki knew what was going to come up next: Yuuko running up to them, squeezing them in a tight embrace, screaming "I'll go prepare your wedding! Must make invitations now!" Watanuki winced at that thought.

Kurogane was enjoying this _too _much. He on the other hand thanked the gods up there for letting this digital camera have a video recording system too.

…

The blond photographer was getting really bored as he continued stargazing on the condo's plaza in the back of the building. He would've loved to take a swim, but who in their right mind would go swimming in near winter at eleven in the night with one of the most expensive coats you had on? Definitely not Fai; at least he was sane.

With the yawn the man leaned back against the chair. He couldn't shed his clothes off and just jump into the pool, no one would. Cobalt blue eyes glanced to the side to find a couple in the corner of the plaza, doing something Fai _really_ didn't want to know about. Instead he just shook his head and looked away, shivering slightly at the thoughts.

_But then again,_ he thought as a frowned was plastered upon his face, _I don't think Ashura is a virgin anymore…_ Fai stopped his idea from traveling on, already feeling heat rise up to his face. He heard a muffled moan and knew that right now was the time to run back into his condo and lock the doors for the night.

And he did so.

Turning on the iPod he had bought a few weeks ago, Fai turned it on and immediately went to the Asian section. He picked his favourite song, smiling to himself before skipping to the very middle of the song.

The photographer stopped the song there and thought about the two lines. _When a yellow balloon flies, in my heart wonderful memories come back? _A smile formed on his lips as a hollow chuckle escaped from them. He had a disturbed and depressed look on his face when he repeated that line over and over in his mind.

_I've never had 'wonderful' memories, have I?_

…

"You must get together!" Yuuko yelled as this time Watanuki covered his ears and muttered "So noisy."

She fumed as the teenager retreated to his room for the night. But she had other plans; she had a whole list of them running through the back of her deep, dark mind. Yuuko smirked evilly as she whipped around and headed for Doumeki's room, a bottle of _something_ hidden under her shirt.

"Doumeki-kun…"

Kurogane heard someone walking past his room and didn't bother to think about who it was; instead he turned on the camera again and grinned wickedly as he looked through his pictures of the past night.

It was classic. Pictures of Watanuki getting ganged up by Yuuko, Doumeki and even Maru and Moro one time. And sometimes there were pictures of Doumeki leaning a bit too close to Watanuki, saying it was an 'accident'. Sure, anyone would call the idea of literally dropping a cup of wine on top of someone's head and then lapping it from the shell of their ear an _accident_.

Looking through the videos, he immediately went to his own video that was titled 'Doumeki and Watanuki?'

Of course, he didn't notice the other videos with small screenshots of a certain blond, smiling as he recorded his trip to Taiwan…

…

Fai was asleep by one in the morning; his arms were sprawled out in front of him as the blanket was crumpled up and at his feet. His legs were hanging out from the side of the bed and his hair was like a huge blond mess.

There were footsteps right outside his door. A click was heard. Then the twisting of a golden doorknob. With Fai sleeping, it was a whole lot easier for someone to barge into his room and steal anything. The person, however, stood there with the biggest smile on their face ever.

Tip-toeing across the floor, careful not to wake up the sleeping photographer, the person's shadow loomed over Fai's still figure.

"Mmfrgh… God, those pastries are wonderful…" Fai muttered in his sleep as he squirmed a bit, perhaps from the fact that he was being stared by a complete stranger or maybe because he was trying to grab for the pastries that were floating around in his mind.

"Fai…"

There was no reply, of course, but the photographer waved his hand in the air, as if saying "Ooh, ooh, gimme a pastry please!" The person who was leaning over Fai snickered slightly and beckoned another person over.

…

… **_However most dreams are fantasies beyond this world, beyond imagination, that it's practically impossible for it to happen._**

Five hours ago, back in Paris, France, Ashura and Yasha were in a subway linking from Paris to literally any other city there was. The couple was holding each other's hands lovingly, staring at each other for moments without getting tired of it. No one expected Ashura to be a boy, especially with long beautiful hair like that, so a passerby would think that they were a straight couple.

Ashura let his head drop against Yasha's shoulder during their ride, his dazed eyes glancing up to meet with his lover's.

"Hrm, Yasha-kun," Ashura droned out as he lifted his hand to pet Yasha on the face softly, "you have the key, right?"

Yasha let out a chuckle and for a second there was an evil glint in his eyes. "Why, of course my dear Ashura," he whispered back, nuzzling his nose against Ashura's. The smaller of the two laughed and wrapped his arms around his neck, bringing his boyfriend's face closer to his.

"You don't think he'll hate us, do you?" Yasha rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Ashura, he loves you too much to hate you. I mean, who could?" He pulled at Ashura's cheeks playfully and smiled at him.

"I love you too, Yasha."

"And I you."

…

Five hours after the subway ride, the couple was in Fai's room, staring down at the still figure whose undershirt was pulled up, showing inches of bare, pale skin. Ashura giggled as he poked his older brother in the stomach lightly, seeing if he would move. Yet Fai continued sleeping. Yasha was impatiently tapping his foot on the carpeted floor and was waiting for the photographer to wake up from Ashura's ministrations. Yet the blond man didn't move a bit, which ticked both Ashura and Yasha off.

"Wake up, aniki!" Ashura yelled into Fai's ear, just enough so no one could hear from outside the room.

Fai woke up with a start, yelling out a string of words that no matter how much you rearranged them, they made no sense.

"Huh?" He let out a confused whimper as he spotted four amber eyes looking at him. Fai was just about to reach for the metal bat he had under his bed when a hand caught his, pausing him.

"Aniki, are you still half asleep, or are you awake but insane enough to whack me with a bat?" Fai blinked. No one else had called him 'aniki'; take out Ashura or occasionally Yasha.

"… Ashu…ra is that you?" Fai mumbled as he rubbed his eyes with the palm of his eyes. Ashura let out a laugh as his older brother gave a rather pathetic look as he stared up at the couple.

"Well duh. We just came by to visit you and look, you're already asleep!" Yasha draped his arms around his lover's shoulders, bringing him closer to his own body.

"Do you have an extra room, Fai-san?" the oldest of the couple asked. Fai had randomly pointed to any direction of the unlit room, too lazy to actually get up and show them where.

"To the left, right past the door, past the bathroom…" he slurred before falling back on his bed with a thump.

Ashura rolled his eyes at his older brother's childish behavior. "Sad. Well, let's go, Yasha-kun." He tugged at his boyfriend's arm, pulling him towards the room Fai had 'pointed' to. There were silent snores as the two had disappeared into the separate room, and that was all.

…

Kurogane jumped up in the comfortable sofa in his bedroom of the manor when he heard several shrieks and groans of protest from the room next door. An eyebrow shot up when the shrieks continued, with the occasional "Yuuko-san, not the-!"

The photographer was rather surprised when he opened the door and found Watanuki and Doumeki literally bounded onto the leg of the bed with Yuuko in front of them, a roll of duct tape in her clutches. He let out a faint whistle as she continued adding tape to securely tie them against the bed.

"Now you two stay here until you figure out how to get yourselves out of this mess!" she chirped, clapping. Watanuki gave her a disgusted look.

"Huh? Do _you_ know how to get out of this mess?" Watanuki asked, glaring at her with all his might. The mentor giggled for a bit, glancing at the distressed look on Doumeki's face. With a sigh she replied. "Nope, sorry I don't!"

And with that the woman skipped out of the room, dropping the roll of duct tape on the floor right before their eyes.

"_Yuuko-san_!" Watanuki yelled at his employer as she left the room, shutting the door closed with the lights off. Kurogane slowly slipped away from the room through the entrance that connected the two rooms together.

_I guess Jack and Jill rooms are good occasionally… _Reaching for the camera again, he quickly took a picture of the frustrated two tied against the legs of the bed. After the small flash subsided, Doumeki glanced at the photographer's direction, only able to catch a spike of hair that disappeared immediately.

Kurogane sat down on the sofa he was previously sitting on and took another look at the pictures he had taken that day. Pictures of Watanuki, Doumeki, Yuuko, the twins, himself with a drunken Yuuko, or all of them combined. He rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh.

"And I wonder how Christmas will be," Kurogane joked. He was glancing at the pictures as they showed the preview, and accidentally came across one he didn't take a few hours ago. It was a random picture; a picture of a squirrel on a tree branch, its nose high up in the air, paws at its chest. For a moment the photographer wondered why this person would take such a stupid picture, especially of a squirrel.

Uninterested in the pictures, Kurogane turned the camera off and placed it on the small coffee table in front of the sofa. With a grunt he walked up to the bed on the very edge of the room and threw himself on it, letting out a satisfied sigh when his head came in contact with the comfortable mattress.

"Please tell me there'll be no more interruptions…"

…

Fai was up out of bed near the kitchen sink, stomach growling and face extremely pale. He leaned forward over the sink, groaning out loud as he tasted something acidic in his mouth. "God…"

Ashura, who was a very light sleeper, had heard the moan from the kitchen and rushed towards his brother who was currently clutching onto the wooden countertop, eyes bulging out and mouth wide open.

"Aniki!"

…

Fai ended up in bed again, this time with Ashura and Yasha surrounding him, annoyed looks on their faces. Confused, he was giving them looks that seemed to have said "What'd I do?"

Yasha caught onto what he was saying and let out a sigh. "Were you eating anything bad, aniki?" The blond photographer thought for a moment but shook his head. _But I did eat the snails_, he thought to himself.

"Were you outside for too long, aniki?" Ashura asked worriedly. His older brother had a thinking face on for the next few seconds and nodded slightly.

"I was only outside for a few hours," he croaked out, shivering in disgust of his own voice. The youngest of the three hugged his brother, scolding him.

"Don't do that; mother has always told you that your bronchitis was caused by the cold. And France isn't the warmest place on Earth, aniki." Fai patted his younger brother on the back softly, grinning.

"Ah well, at least I didn't pass out like last time." Yasha gave him a stern look, his look saying that he couldn't accept the fact that he went around the world alone and had a serious problem like that.

"Aniki, don't joke around. Passing out or not, you still have bronchitis and it's going to affect you. Just try to look over yourself a bit more." Then his frown turned into a crooked smile. "And if I were you, I wouldn't speak to any girls with that voice of yours." Fai rolled his eyes at Yasha's statement.

"Yeah, thanks for your advice, Yasha-kun."

…

The photographer was on his bed, legs and arms sprawled all over the covers, soft snores escaping his lips once in a while. Kurogane was dreaming, something he usually didn't do, about his past. The man never really did lament over the past, seeing that it was 'useless', trying to change it by thinking about it. But today, somehow, was different; different only because it wasn't focusing on the horrible parts of his life, but more along the bright parts.

He was dreaming about his new home back in Russia where the snow collected up in mounds here and there, where there were constantly thick warm coats on sale, or hats made of wool. It was different than the other countries he had lived in previously, but the coldness was somewhat inviting to him.

Kurogane, around the age of eleven, was often found outside of their house and playing around in the shopping centre. He would always gaze into the shops with sweets, or shops with toys and clothes. The blood red eyes of his would always glitter whenever he passed the shops. Yes, it was Christmas time.

The young child was eyeing a specific item, an item that usual kids weren't interested in, but it had caught his attention. Computers weren't really as 'cheap' as they were now, so Kurogane didn't want to kill his parent's money for buying that. Instead his bright eyes would longingly stare at the old-styled camera that was held on the shelf in the front of the shop. But the bright eyes would dim in sadness whenever he saw the price of the camera, thinking it was literally impossible to afford such an expensive item.

And then Christmas came along just like that. Kurogane, being an only child, had to gather all his money and buy something for his parents like a good little boy would have. His cousin Tomoyo came over on that day with presents, large and small, thick and thin. Since her parents were thriving in their business, she thought that a few extra presents couldn't hurt them.

Then when Kurogane had opened his presents, after hours of eating cookies, drinking milk and listening to stories that his relatives would share, he eagerly reached out for the rectangular box wrapped in shining red and white wrapping paper. Slowly he ripped it apart and gasped when he saw the camera he had always wanted with a small bow attached to it.

"Dear Kurogane," the letter next to it had read, "I've always been seeing you eyeing that small piece of technology of yours, so I thought that even though it was a little overpriced, our family could afford it. Better put good use to it, Kuro-pon. Love, Father."

The dream continued as the young photographer slept, his hand reaching out for the camera that was placed rather awkwardly on the pillow next to him. His grip on the leather strap tightened once his hands felt it.

Though it wasn't his, Kurogane felt a strong bond between the stranger's camera and him already.

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**Chapitre six for _Memories_ ish finished! Huzzah! – Celebrates – So I wanna end this story… soon. Probably in a few more chapitres it'll be finished. I can't continue this forever because I gotta make them… well, y'know. I'll probably get over ten chapitres then I'll decide when it ends. … Why is it that I'm crying over the fact that Fai-Fai lost his eye in volume seventeen? I like, started crying because Syao-Syao (the fake one) literally ate his eyes out. It's just like Watanuki's eyes, damn it! – Rambles on and on – And speaking of Watanuki-kun, I don't think he should see Himawari-chan anymore! She's the one who caused him to fall out the window, damn it! – Hisses – Right, sorry about that. ;;**

**So, thanks for those who reviewed (you should know who you are already) and… well, I hope you review for this one too.**

**Happy (Late) Thanksgiving to all those who live in America. **

**-Muffinizer pyu!**


	7. Frogs

_Memories_

_Chapitre Seven_

_Frogs_

**And I return with chapitre seven. Huzzah. I'm just so bored and I have a project due… and I can't do oral reports. Dear God, help me. Nyee, Watanuki-kun and Doumeki-kun are doing some… naughty stuff in the beginning, if you catch my drift. – Snickers – I have no idea what's gotten into me, but I thought that the only thing that would get Kuro-nya and Yuuko riled up was two adorable guys in the bedroom. Alone. Doing stuff. – Smiles stupidly – Yes, enter the world of Muffinizer's Shounen-ai Land.**

**Wai! I'm sorry for the extremely long update! (And the short chapitre. Wah!) I'm sure you guys forgot about my story, right…? – Cries in a corner – Oh god, I'm so lazy and horrible. I had midterms and projects and bleh. I was just so stressed out. Sorry.**

**Note: I cut off on those gay (Okay, not really gay, y'know?) lines that separated each part. They looked so odd, that I just use the ellipses. **

**Random Note: I just found my _UN_ 3rd album CD today in one of my shelves. Boy, I loved that CD. It was from 2002, but who cares? _UN_, an awesome Korean group of two singers, still rocks my socks, even though they quit singing. – Sigh – Kim Jung Hun was so hot though…**

**Disclaimer: Look at the other six chapitres if you actually need to be reminded…**

**Full Summary: The photographer Fai D. Flowright loves to take pictures of nature everywhere around the world. Another tourist has the same hobby, taking pictures of historical sites. Unfortunately on their recent trip, they have switched cameras with each other's photos. Will they be able to give the cameras back? And what will happen then?**

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It was around nine in the morning, two days after Fai had fallen ill and collapsed suddenly. Ashura and Yasha left for their dorms, saying goodbye to the oldest of the three before getting on the subway that led them to town. The blond sighed, leaning against the metal pillar that was just behind the yellow line that stopped anyone from going past. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared at the tracks that were rusty and a dirty red.

_I'm so bored_, Fai thought grumpily, playing at the pale green sleeves of his shirt in annoyance as he walked back up the stairs of the subway. _Ashura and Yasha already left and now I have no one to talk to. France isn't as good as I thought…_

Walking around downtown, Fai peeked into random stores that sold chocolates, clothes or sometimes dolls. He stepped into one, just to find a huge black doll that had a small aquamarine jewel placed on its forehead. With a smile the man leaned forward and touched its ears, admiring the soft and fuzzy feel to the floppy ears.

"Are you going to buy that, sir?" a pale woman with black hair asked, holding up the bunny like creature to his face. Fai thought for a moment. That moment didn't last to long as he quickly nodded and went to pay for the oversized doll.

He was, after all, alone in his world, without anyone to look over him.

…

"I think the hangover's still affecting me," Yuuko moaned, slumping into the sofa of their room. Kurogane followed suit, resting against the back of the wooden chair that had intricate designs carved into it. There were a few thuds, and the next moan wasn't from Yuuko.

The two that were trying to lounge in the living room casted a worried glance at the locked bedroom attached to it, where the noises were coming from. And, as if they shared the same mind, the two thought,

_I'm not going to get sleep for the next few days…_

"Hey, Kurogane," Yuuko whispered, glancing at the raven who tried to cover his ears with his hands to block out the noise, "wanna go eat outside?" In return he gave her a quizzical look.

"You've got to be kidding me. You still have a hangover and you're planning to party outside all day long? No way," he huffed, still concentrating on blocking out the sounds. "And I'm never getting you a glass of whiskey ever again, parties or not." The woman stuck out her tongue at him childishly, shaking her fist at him.

"Fine then, Kurogane. I'll just go outside myself."

As she stood up, she spotted an envelope on the small coffee table that struck at her. "Oh, Kuro-nya," Yuuko began and ignored the aggravated growl from the raven, "I got this stupid invitation to some… pictures convention? I think it was something related to art. Anyway, you're invited to something in Germany in February."

Immediately the man got out of the rather uncomfortable chair and stared at her with wide, red eyes. "Where's the letter, Yuuko? Where?" Simply she pointed at the white envelope that was closed with a small gold sticker. Reaching down the man ripped it open and read through the invitation twice, once in shock and once in reassurance.

"Yes!" he yelled out, just as one person in the other room shouted out "Yes!" too.

Both adults stared at the wooden door, officially scared.

Kurogane cleared his throat quickly, staring at the wide eyed woman. "So, where do you want to go? Some fish and chips?"

The slender woman nodded in reply and dashed for the door that led them out of the condominium. "Get my purse too, will you?" she asked as she slipped on her shoes and ran through the hallway.

He frowned, picking up the leather purse. "Why do I have to get the-?" There were shouts from behind the wooden door of the bedroom and before he could complain, Kurogane made way for the door that was wide open.

_Dear God._

_Don't let me encounter such a thing again._

_Please._

…

Fai was walking around the plaza with the huge bunny in his arms, smiling to himself like a spoiled child. People all around both laughed and commented how cute and adorable he looked with it, and others simply called him a freak. But he shrugged them off and continued down the paved roads just to glance at the stores on either side of him. The sidewalks of France, he noted, were unusually clean that morning, and it put him into a cheery mood as he realized that he didn't step on gum yet.

Searching through his wallet as he placed his doll on one of the coffee table outside, he grumbled when he realized that there were only a few Euros left for him to spend. _It's the doll that cost so much_, he realized with a pout. Grabbing the doll by the ear again, he dragged it down the sidewalk, humming 'A La Claire Fontaine'.

"_A la Claire fontaine, m'en allant promener, J'ai trouvé l'eau si ell' que je m'y suis baigné…"_ Fai sang without really understanding what he said. The passerby shot him a look which Fai easily ignored. He was used to being ignored, and was used to ignoring others.

"_Fendez le bois chauffez le four, Dormez la bell', il n'est point jour…"_

…

"So, like," Yuuko started as she began scrutinizing the plate of food before her, "do you think the two lovebirds are done with their… thing?" Kurogane simply arched an eyebrow, chewing slowly as a sickening look took over his face once more. He had just gotten the horrible, disgusting mental image out of his head, but the evil woman stuck it back in.

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." Kurogane made way for the bathroom, trying to hold it in as he heard the woman's evil laughter fill the bustling restaurant.

"Their bedroom's probably a mess by now!" she shouted, waving at the green-faced man. "I feel bad for the woman who's going to clean the beds."

"Damn!" he shouted out again, swinging the bathroom door open.

People who unfortunately had seats near the restrooms heard the man's retching, dropping their forks and staring at their food. "You don't think the guy's sick because of this, right?" one muttered, pointing at the half empty plate.

More retching.

The people left.

…

Fai sat down on a small coffee table near the curb of a sidewalk, placing his bunny on the sidewalk next to him, and ordered a cup of tea. It was pretty much a routine for him to walk around looking like a freak and then suddenly plop down as a normal person. Distant music from inside the restaurant flowed out into the busy air of France, and Fai enjoyed the tune. Closing his blue eyes for a second, he tapped his index finger on the glass table repeatedly.

He was ready to leave for Germany coming February, and he wondered if he would meet any colleagues there. Fai began listing the names of all the friends he made during his college years.

_Murata-kun, Cecilia-chan, Yuri-chan, Yuki-kun, Matsuo-kun, Freya-chan… _he thought before pausing midway his train of thoughts. _Heck, pretty much everyone in my school knows me._

It wasn't much of a hyperbole, since Fai really was chatty during his late teens and loved going to parties. No one in their school could miss the bouncing, hyper head of blond for even a second. Anyone could come up to him and shout out a greeting, and he'd reply ten times more hyper.

The blond let out a relaxed sigh, stopping his tapping as a waitress in a simple dress came up to him with a tray, setting the green tea down beside him. He winked and whispered _"Merci beaucoup." _Like most girls who fall for pretty, playful guys like him, she blushed and bowed. Then she twirled around to rush back into the restaurant, whispering to a fellow waitress that a foreign tourist actually spoke to her. Fai laughed to himself. He played with the tea bag that hung out slightly from the small cup, twirling his finger around the string.

In boredom, the blond watched as the containments seeped into the water slowly, the greenness coming darker and darker every few moments. He crossed his legs and glanced down at the bunny propped up down beside him, smiling again.

_He reminds me so much of Ashura-chan_. Fai sighed inwardly, playing with the fluffy ear. _His hair is similar to its fur… shiny and soft… Eyes look happy_. Fai stopped himself, blinking in sudden confusion. _Why am I comparing my brother to a bunny?_

There was something going on in the restaurant that snapped him out of his thoughts, and when the blond whipped his head to the side to see what was going on, he broke into laughter. Hard.

Apparently there was a frog in someone's soup, jumping around oddly as one leg was pretty much chopped off for a dish. The person who was about to eat dropped her spoon and shrieked, pushing the plate off the table. And the girl he saw earlier was there, trying to catch the frog with her bare hands, yet it still hopped around with one leg short. Immediately Fai's hand went down to the bag slung over his shoulder.

"Ugh!" she cried, throwing off the napkin that was tucked into her shirt. From the look on her face and the volume she was using, Fai thought that she was complaining about how disgusting the restaurant was. Everyone seemed to zero in one the girl who was desperately trying to catch that frog. It came his way to the tables.

Arching an eyebrow, Fai bent down and scooped up the dying frog with his left hand. He brought it up to his vest's pocket, scooting it into the area. It slipped in and appeared again, this time not jumping, but its head sticking out of his pocket. All eyes were on the blond tourist, blinking in confusion.

"What just happened?"

"Did the guy just pick that frog up?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Ugh!"

Walking up to the girl, the blond slipped the frog out of his pocket, the frog croaking. He dropped it in her open hands, smiling a genuine smile once again. The girl blushed in response and scampered back into the restaurant to apologize to the customer again.

Fai sighed and tapped his fingers against the LCD screen of his camera, where a picture of a frog hopping out of a bowl of soup appeared.

"There went my relaxing time drinking tea."

…

Kurogane wasn't doing well with Yuuko either. Apparently the moment they came back, Watanuki and Doumeki were sprawled on the couch, half naked, cuddled up together. Sometimes Kurogane wondered why Doumeki allowed himself to be dragged around by that Kimihiro kid anyway. Yuuko tiptoed up to him, poking one of Doumeki's broad shoulders, just to rile him up. There was no response, just some incoherent grumbling.

Watanuki shifted in his sleep, accidentally smacking Doumeki upside the head. Doumeki growled, nudging the boy back in annoyance. The two began blowing random attacks at each other unknowingly, until one actually woke up and screamed,

"Doumeki, stop hitting me, damn it!"

There was silence for a moment, as the taller boy woke up with a start. His usually small eyes widened a bit as he saw Kurogane staring at them with amused eyes. Watanuki opened his mouth to explain what happened, but Yuuko simply raised her hand. She tsked at them, a giddy smile gracing her figures.

An idea struck him.

"Hey, you two, face this way."

_Snap._

Watanuki gasped, flabbergasted, as the flash of Kurogane's 'new' camera went off. He stammered, unable to form words to throw at the raven haired man. Kurogane smirked again, tapping the lens of his camera. "Never let your guard down when you have a photographer around you, guys."

"Now you guys return to your cuddling," she giggled with a bright look on her face at the boys, "while Kurogane here is going to help me pick out shoes."

"Yeah, you go back and I'll help pick sh- Wait, what?" Kurogane too gave a shocked look at the woman before being dragged by the ear out the room.

"Hey wait a minute, I didn't agree to this!"

She simply slammed the door shut on her way out, leaving the hotel room as quiet as it had before. Doumeki shrugged and wrapped his arms around Watanuki's thin waist, bringing him down with him onto the couch with a grunt. That's what he planned on doing, but Watanuki wouldn't give into Kurogane's action too easily.

"That bastard just took a picture of us together! That is not fair whatsoever. I'm gonna get man and Yuuko-san right now. So let go of me, Doumeki!" Watanuki snapped angrily as he began kicking his legs childishly, kicking and kicking at the blanket wrapped around their bodies.

Doumeki groaned again, pulling down harder. The boy with glasses let out a shout and fell down reluctantly, chest hitting Doumeki's. He muttered words into his bare chest with a scowl on his face, but Doumeki ignored them. The taller teenager simply ruffled his hair up with his hands and grinned.

"Just go back to sleep, Watanuki."

…

Fai wondered as he looked through several pictures that the camera really belonged to. He thought that the photography was probably freaking over the fact that his precious camera disappeared one snowy day at a ski lodge, like he had. The blond frowned, which he rarely did, and his eyebrows formed a 'u.' Skimming through the useless photos that he already saw before Fai was trying to find just one thing.

He wondered if there was actually a person in one photograph.

And he found it, stopping at a picture of a slender woman, tall and graceful, with hair that tumbled down her back in an elegant way. Beside the woman was a short, tanned boy with spiky raven hair, smiling at the camera before them. Fai's frown turned upside down as he admired the love and care of the picture taken, tracing the boy's smile with an index finger.

Then he wondered if he took any pictures with his family.

_Of course I have,_ Fai scolded himself with a frown again. _I took pictures of Ashura, mother and father._

He stopped midway in the street, looking blankly before him with the camera held loosely in his pale hands.

_But was I ever in one of them?_

"Get out of the way!" one person shouted in French, honking his horn at the dazed blond in the middle of the street. Fai jumped and without a glance he sprinted to the other side of the street, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

_I can't believe I just stopped in the middle of the road, ready to be run over by a car._

As he continued walking, the blond gave a weary smile.

_Actually, I don't think that'd be such a bad idea._

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**Whoa, emo Fai much? – Points to the end – I wasn't expecting that kinda ending. Ehh. Anyway…**

**I just realized that the title, Frogs (I had it as something else but changed it) relates to the frog incident in the restaurant and Kurogane's odd obsession with frogs. (Err, the first chapitre; the photograph book with a frog on it. I seriously gotta fix that chapitre with the bunny and stuff. So screwed up…)**

**This chapitre was simply random shit; I'm serious. I didn't want this to be that silly, but more along the line of seriousness. (Seriousness? What seriousness? I just lost my sanity a few, uhh, months ago?) Anyway, I hope you review for this… short and… not amusing chapitre.**

**I added a Watanuki x Doumeki part since I love that couple. Three cheers!**

**-Muffinizer, nyee**


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